Valley woman’s online tea shop steeped with creative flavor

By Dylan Scott

Friday, Jan. 7, 2011 | 1:55 a.m.

Art is what Carolyn Johnson does. Her stepfather was a painter. She studied fashion design in San Francisco and worked at a local graphic design firm. So, it’s no surprise that she imbued her online tea shop, Indie Tea, with that same sense of creativity.

She spices up traditional blends with choice ingredients to give her teas a distinct taste and she designs her own labels. Johnson said the business, which opened in 2009, gives her another creative outlet.

“I try to bring creativity to the whole process of tea,” said Johnson, 44, who moved to the southwest valley in 1990 from the Bay Area. “I want to make it accessible and fun.”

A quick look through Johnson’s menu shows she’s not afraid to try something new. One brew, Wise Man’s Caravan, adds frankincense and myrrh to a black tea for a bold flavor. Peace, Love and Happy Tea pairs a twist of green tea with an injection of jasmine and chrysanthemum flowers to give it a “hippie flavor,” she added with a laugh.

With January designated as National Hot Tea Month, Johnson also hopes to remind people about the health benefits of her favorite beverage. For example, green tea is well known for reducing cholesterol. The spices she uses have anti-inflammatory properties, Johnson said, and her Truth Serum, an herbal tea with a pinch of Valerian root, will give drinkers a pleasant night’s sleep.

And as a New Year’s resolution, Johnson said she will select one charity each month and donate a portion of her profits to it. This month’s charity of choice is The Polaris Project, which works to stop human trafficking.

Although she’s “always loved tea,” Johnson said she didn’t know anything about its brewing until three years ago. As she walked through the mall one day with her daughter, Rachael, she said the idea of a loose-leaf tea shop struck her.

“I wanted to do something on my own,” she said. She kept her day job at Eagle Promotions as a graphic designer, but Johnson said she needed one part of her life where she had “complete creative freedom.”

A trip to the World Tea Expo at the Las Vegas Convention Center convinced Johnson that her idea was doable. Since her website first launched in 2009, she has developed 14 different blends, secured the Las Vegas Hilton as one of her customers and will be a part of the show at this year’s World Tea Expo.

Rachael, who is a part owner of Indie Tea, is now at Chapman University in Orange County, Calif. All of Johnson’s family and friends serve as her “guinea pigs” when she has a new idea, she said, but she said the shop has kept her and her daughter close.

“It filled the gap there,” Johnson said. “Now (Indie Tea) is like my little baby.”

And she has big plans for when it grows up. These days, Johnson said most of her business comes from wholesale buyers like the Hilton, which picked up her line last year. But her goal is to add a store -- “a brick-and mortar-presence,” as she put it -- somewhere in the valley in the next few years.